Have you ever read a book set in a real world location that heavily affected your enjoyment or affection for the story?

I read The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin last year and didn’t like the characters or plot that much, but I loved seeing how Le Guin brought Portland, OR to life. As someone who grew up in the area, I could follow the MC’s commute through the city and how it shaped the novel, and it helped me enjoy my experience a lot more.

On the flip side, I just finished The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin, and struggled to find my footing with the story and the characters. It was well written and there were creative choices I appreciated, but I think I would’ve liked the book more if I had any familiarity with NYC at all.

Does anyone have a similar experience?

Do you strictly read via e-reader, audio, or physical? Which do you see best results with?

I have a Kindle and can’t force myself to read on it! Audio is only used for work if I have to force myself to get a book done (cough, current book club read, cough). Physical is my preferred because I find myself reading wayyyy more and I can see the progress easily.

If you don't know what HRCYED is, it's the Hardest Reading Challenge You'll Ever Do. It spans the whole year, from july 7th 2026 to july 6th 2027. I made a post about it earlier this year which explains and links everything. Right here.

If you do participate, how did week 1 go? I know it only officially started Tuesday but if I don't post on Sundays, I'll forget. What prompts did you start (or finished!)? Any excellent books read that you recommend? Any hidden gems? Did you see the qwest, are you reading for it and it so, what are you/did you read?

I started June 7th so I'm a bit over a month in now and I've read 12 books so far. Currently reading my anthology : When Things Get Dark, stories inspired by Shirley Jackson. I loved a lot of what I read but shout outs have to go to Walking Practice by Nghi Vo and the Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. I read Bailey Bangs her Brother's Best Friend for the qwest, so I could tick both prompts and used it for a switcheroo!

Hello! Random question that popped on my mind as I was browsing the site - when do you mute a book, or, what type of books do you mute? For me, thus far, I've basically muted popular books that I don't intend to read because they don't interest me when they show up on my feed. But, oddly enough, I don't mute books I hated...

What are everyones favorite pieces of media beyond books? I made a template below but feel free to add to it/delete from it as you see fit.

Movies: TV Shows: Music Artist/Songs: Podcasts: Youtube: Visual Artisit/Art Piece:

I can't wait to see and steal everyones tastes

i have tried everything. well not everything, but quite a few different things. i’ve been reading 1-10 pages a day just to keep my streak. how do i fix this?

things i’ve tried: ❤️ random number generators/wheels ❤️ “just read for ten minutes, you’ll want to read more after the ten minutes are over” ❤️ one page for every like ❤️ can’t buy/ do a specific thing until i reach my reading goal

id be willing to try these strategies again if any of them are good and worked for you !!!